FastForward Radio

LOUD PIPES DO NOT save lives
The physics of motorcycles suggests that the sound doesn’t radiate in way that makes the rider safer in general.
However- neighbors will be reminded you ride. Other vehicles may be reminded in general that bikes are present- but hardly ever in way that a specific traffic situation will be safer vs. another vehicle.
Every peer reviewed academic study concludes the same thing. And when I lived in England and rode in England and Europe- the sound laws are strictly enforced. And strict. ANd yet they have fewer motorcycle vs. other vehicles crashes (injury or fatality causing incidents) per mile ridden than in the US by a factor of almost 90% (at least in the 80′s)

Check it out:

“Pat Hahn of the state of Minnesota’s Motorcycle Safety Center says he understands individual expression. But he says the idea that loud pipes save lives is a myth. Hahn, who writes books and articles on motorcycle safety says there’s a problem with the safety theory because the pipes direct the sound backwards. “Seventy-seven percent of all motorcycle accident hazards come from the 11 to 1:00 direction, from in front of the motorcycle rider. And people that are 500 feet in front of you that may turn in front of you that will violate your right of way; they can’t hear it because it’s pointed the other way,” says Hahn. Hahn says there are better ways for riders to be seen: wearing bright colored clothes and helmets plus riding brightly-colored bikes. He says a New Zealand study found wearing bright colors lowered the chance of a motorcycle-vehicle crash by 37%.”